Cosy Home
by Sombereyes
Summary: Natsuki and friends gather together in times of reflection, telling Takeda about their lives. To his interest, Natsuki finally makes good on her promise, telling him all about how baby Rin came to be. The fourth story in the Fences series. AU. Shiz/Nat, Mai/Tate, Nao/Takeda.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was something I really wanted to do during White Fence, but then I thought better of it, leaving it at the ending that it was. Open ended, and not without faults, just like life is. However, just as there was an insinuation for a sequel...there was also an insinuation for no continuation at all. I threw the idea around, and decided that I would eventually revisit the series...as we all well know. So here we are. At any rate, this is touchy at best, and while I wanted to incorporate Natsuki's pregnancy, I also dared not put that part of the story into the already heavily themed fiction that White Fence was.

I felt at odds, really, because in my eyes, chapter 10 left much to be desired, and while that was a good thing in a lot of ways, it also drove me crazy in the regards of working with the series..that said, I left myself a lot of open spaces to play with intentionally. Natsuki's pregnancy was one of the gaps most worthy of visitation, so here we go.

**Warning: **Pregnancy is colorful in more ways than one, and I have every intention of bringing a good measure of that into this fiction. If you can't deal with that, or the "loveliness" sure to ensue, don't read this...you'll regret it, because sometimes, things get messy in more ways than one. This will be a roller coaster, just like White Fence, but the highs will be higher, and the lows, won't be quite so low.

No guarantees on update speed, but, that said, I'm far enough into the fiction to at least offer a little bit of a decent pace.

Clearly, I don't own Mai HiME/Otome...and this is AU. **Please read the other stories in the series first, if you haven't already... (1)White Fence (2)Dusty Bassinet ****(3)First Comes Love.**

On with the fiction!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

Natsuki sighed a little as she tended to the grill, one of the few ways she could cook, without completely setting food into a blackened doom. The back yard was filled with the normal ruckus expected as the twins continued to argue over who's turn it was to mow the front lawn. Natsuki rolled her eyes, finally shouting that she would do it tomorrow, if only they would just shut up. She looked over at the swing that she'd carried out to the patio, surprised that Rin was still asleep in spite of the shouting. That baby could crash out like a rock, something that was both amusing, and a godsend.

"How's dinner coming?" Mai asked, bringing out two platters, ready to serve the food on, taking the dirty ones that were sitting on the side so that she could wash them.

"I can cook, you know." Natsuki muttered dryly, pointing at the food with her spatula. "It'll be another five or so, on the steak and chops. Tell Nao to sit tight."

"It isn't Nao who's complaining." Mai said then with a smirk. "The boys are hungry. You know how Tate gets." Though in truth, Mai knew she spoiled that man rotten when it came to his dinner time routine. She took one of the hotdogs and put it on a bun. "I'm going to give him this, and tide him over."

"He can't wait like a good little boy?" Natsuki muttered when Mai rolled her eyes and going back into the house, where she had two large pots of something going at a full boil. Natsuki hadn't thought to ask what it was.

Natsuki chuckled then, knowing full well that he was probably rightfully famished, and so too was his good friend, Takeda, who also decided to join them. A back yard barbecue wasn't rare among them, it was Natsuki's preferred way to eat, and she so loved it. With Mai's little family living right next door, and Nao only a short distance away, there were many nights they would gather together to share a meal.

This night was rather impromptu, and ill planned at best, or dinner would have been served over an hour ago.

However when Tate had to work late, and Takeda was carpooling, Mai had already known she was getting an extras for dinner. Who was she to argue? She loved having big meals. It only got bigger Nao and Aki called her cell phone, ranting that they wanted some decent food for a change. Shizuru was out of town for the week, and six dinners of poor quality had already been enough. Natsuki had to run to the store anyway for more milk, it seemed only fitting to buy another tank of propane as well.

Knowing Shizuru would not have been in the mood to cook after a several hour drive, and Mai shouldn't be expected to do all the work alone, they had easily come to the consensus and tossed the idea together haphazardly. It was nice, in it's own way. A reprieve of sorts, a sought after normalcy. Once the meal was prepared however, and they could all sit around enjoying the warm company, conversation seemed as varied as the clouds in the sky.

Something, they as a group, agreed on.

"It must be nice, being able to do things whenever you want, eh Natsuki?" Takeda asked as he nodded over at the baby still napping away in the swing. "I bet you'll be sad when you go back to work in a few days."

"Oh, I wish it would be that easy." Natsuki was surprised to note that she hadn't been let off the hook. "Takeda, there's something to be said about staying active." She chortled at the question. "I worked the entire time I carried Rin."

"Just like now, she's going back to work early." Shizuru sighed, a bit defeated by that. "I wish she wouldn't, but Natsuki can't seem to stay still."

Natsuki shook her head. "It isn't like that. I just like keeping busy." With a small shrug, she seemed not to be bothered by returning to work. In truth, she couldn't wait. "Whenever I stay home, I get restless. Whenever I get restless I get crabby. It's like a snowball effect...actually, it was the same when I was pregnant. Whenever I took a day off, I normally regretted it."

"Don't remind me." Aki muttered then. "I'll be so glad when she gets off maternity leave. It means I won't hear stupid things in the morning before I have to get up."

"No, you'll just hear stupid shit at the office instead." Nao told Aki truthfully. "She won't be able to go out on projects with the rest of us, so she'll be stuck in clerical with Chie. I doubt it'll be much better...now, we'll have to hear her bitching in the office." It was with a exaggerated shrug, and a cheeky grin that she harassed her friend, stealing a rather large chunk of meat off of Natsuki's plate. "We could at least hang up on her over the phone."

"At least I know how to deal with the billing!" Natsuki growled back before she turned to Aki. "When you and your brother were little, the company was still in its infancy. We had one dedicated person working the phone lines, computers, everything...sometimes Nao and I had to help out, since we were the only apprentices back then." She took a swig of some juice, nearby. "Anyway, your Aunt Jackass, opted out of computer class...so needless to say, she couldn't do anything, and screwed it up all the time."

"Speaking of that, you still have several weeks left." Mai was referring to the maternity leave. "You don't really want to take Rin into work with you, do you?"

"I don't see why not." Natsuki shrugged. "It'll be good to see the crew again, you know? Besides, that, it's time Aki learned her way around the other aspects of the company. Like Nao and I do, she should have a basic understanding of every different department. Going out into the field is all well and good, but unless she really wants to get into being a foreman like me, there are other places she can really get involved. Midori's been meaning to put her there anyway for some time now, to get a handle on working with the costumers a little better."

Nao and Aki looked at each other before they both cringed. "Ya know..." Nao began, sensing this was a superbly bad idea. "There are reasons why I got kicked out of clerical...reasons that aren't going to be much different with Aki." There were just some things that Nao wasn't meant to do, and that was customer services. "I for one, think that Aki does just fine where she is. We shouldn't move her around."

Natsuki shook her head. "It'll be a learning experience, if nothing else." Though, Natsuki had other reasons, and Nao knew well of them. "Midori's opening up a new office, now that ours has grown. It's time to expand out, and Midori already has a list of sign ups for people who want to transfer over." Natsuki had been a bit worried about that at first, but when she realized who would be staying around, she felt confidant that it would be a solid team. "It's only going to be the original crew for a while, and since Midori will be out, that puts you and I in charge." Natsuki shrugged before looking at her daughter. "you're going to need to learn the ropes, and I know we're going to be pulling crazy hours."

"Just like the old days, eh?" Nao laughed at that, but took the facts as they were. "We getting paid double overtime for this?"

"You know it." Natsuki smirked then. It was yet another reason why she refused to take off more time from work, or quit entirely.

"With a baby?" Mai gaped as if Natsuki had grown a second head. "You must be nuts, Natsuki, you're still healing."

"Trust me, she's already tried to break _that_ rule." Shizuru said with a small sigh slipping from her lips. "I don't like it, but, Natsuki's right, she could do with the distraction." Only Natsuki would be able to detect the longing in it, and only if she were to be paying attention, which Shizuru doubted highly. "I would rather she left Rin at home, but that's also a failing endeavor."

"I think you should." Mai told her long time friend of midnight tresses. "It's fine if you want to be the working parent, but Shizuru does most of her work from home, anyway."

"Nothing doing." Natsuki shook her head, her mouth full of food. "Work is filled with family."

"It's also the brigade of idiots." Mai noted dryly. "What would you do if Midori gets a hold of Rin and corrupts her?"

"You're honestly worried about that?" Tate found himself looking at his wife confused. He knew she was a worry wart, but now, she was floating around in the clouds. "Mai, corruption isn't a matter of who, it's a matter of when. Look at who her mother is for gods sake!"

"Damn right." The fiery red head nodded. At that, Natsuki and Nao shared a high five, while Shizuru merely sat unmoved, sipping on her tea. "Though, I think Shizuru can keep the newest little hell raiser out of trouble...at least, I think she might be able to."

"That is a point." One that Takeda had wanted to know for quite some time. "I would love to hear why you got pregnant in the first place." Takeda smiled as the smug expression dropped from Natsuki's face. "Let's face it, Natsuki. You're the last person on the planet, that I can envision getting knocked up." He pointed between Natsuki and Shizuru. "It wasn't an accident, so you can't blame that."

"Just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Natsuki grumbled back, looking down at her form, and then glowering at him.

"Just that it's weird to think about." Takeda shrugged.

"I'll have you know that it was quite the experience, and I would do it again in a heart beat." Though as Natsuki said that, there was a mixture of various emotions sent at her direction. Some subtly amused, while others visibly winced. "It was an emotionally gratifying experience, to say the least."

"That's the understatement of the century..." Aki muttered, as Nao nodded in agreement. "Mom, you were horrible, especially at first."

"Oh, yeah...she was a bitch." Nao agreed.

"She wasn't as bad as Mai was." Tate finally smirked...everyone laughed at that, including Mai herself. "Anyway, Takeda if I were you, I wouldn't ask those kinds of questions. Some things are best left unanswered."

"Actually...I find it hilarious." Nao said then, and that only spurred Takeda further.

"I've gotta hear this one." Takeda finally said. "Go on Natsuki, spill it."

"I think, the only way you'll get out of this, is if you regale Takeda with your version of it." Shizuru said, breaking up what she knew would be a colorful spat if she let it continue. "I'm sure the rest of us can help along the way, if you leave out any details."

"Alright...fine." Natsuki grumbled wondering how she got herself involved in something like this, and sighed. "You start then, if you really wanna do this so badly."

"Good, then I shall begin with the day we found out." Shizuru said then, nodding more to herself than everyone else. "I believe that should cut out a lot of the more personal problems that Natsuki would otherwise not divulge so colorfully, yes?" As she looked for Natsuki to nod, letting her know that it was alright, Shizuru sighed. "Okay, well Natsuki had been planning to do this even before she and I had gotten into a relationship. So needless to say, at first, she was a bit skittish about letting me go to the appointments with her. During the days she went in, I stayed home, after all I had unpacking to do-"

….  
(Flashback)

"Aw, come on, let me in." Aki's voice carried quite a distance when she wanted it to. "I am going to murder you if you don't!" It wasn't unusual.

"Yeah right..." In fact, it was quite common. "You'll have to try harder than that." It was one of the joys of being siblings, especially, if one happened to be the stronger of the two.

"Ass!" A rivalry both friendly, and yet fierce. "Don't make me bust it down..." They were as thick as thieves, but also just as willing to harass each other. It was so common in fact, that such a war zone had become second nature. "I swear to god, Kane!" As one might expect, it made for a very boisterous environment. "Open this door!"

They were twins after all.

"Kane, let your sister inside." So, during the times when such an argument occurred, there needed to be a voice of reason. "Preferably before she actually does break down the door." Shizuru was that voice today it seemed. "I wouldn't put it beyond her." She begged with a defeated sigh as she shined some of the silver that she had pulled out of a cardboard box. "That, and I don't want to have to explain to Natsuki, how you were pointedly driving your sister to break things."

"Mom's used to it." Kane shrugged, but unlocked the door anyway, allowing his dripping wet sister to come inside. "We used to break more than just a few windows." He handed her the towel he had used not a moment ago. "I told you I'd win, Aki. Better learn to keep up."

"You'd better learn to shut up, before I break your face." She growled at him, drying off her hair.

"I'd much rather you not break anything." Shizuru interjected, paying half an ear to the squabbling. Paradise, or rather, what she hoped would be something so easily attainable, was little more than utter disarray when she finally decided to move in. This was her family, of that she knew, and flawed though it was, she couldn't deny she belonged here. This was her sanctuary, her dream, and her prayers, all answered for a reason only known by the gods themselves.

"We never agreed that the loser would be locked outside." She told Shizuru with an annoyed glare. "I really should beat him into a bloody pulp."

"You never asked." Kane pulled Aki into a sideways hug. He grabbed the towel, and began to help her dry the long tendrils of multicolored hair. She was beginning to let it grow out. "Besides, the rain isn't so bad, is it sis?" Her normal fawn tresses were so beautiful to see.

"Still! Don't lock me out again." She told him. "Or I really will break your face in."

"Must you two fight today?" Through a series of events, both a godsend, and a misfortune combined, Shizuru had come to realize that life was entirely willing to throw her off balance, guard, and even into the brink of near damnable insanity. Though she used to take pride in such a thing as a prim and proper household, she knew that idea was impossible in her new life.

"Who says we're fighting?" Aki finally asked, as if Shizuru had completely lost it.

"This is normal." Kane agreed placidly. "Aki's actually in a good mood today."

"It doesn't look like it." That was a puzzle piece that would never fit. What few wits she had managed to cling onto, always seemed to be tried and tested. "It looks as if you're truly angry at him." Shizuru told Aki. "I wouldn't blame you if it were the case, but, if you aren't, then why the threats to his person?"

"He's my brother, that's why." Aki declared with a bit of acidity to her voice. The siblings were still unsure about the new addition to family life. They regarded Shizuru with caution, as if she were still an enigma. "Didn't you have anyone you fought with, when you were our age?"

"No, I can't say that I did." Shizuru often agreed with the sentiment, questioning just what she had gotten herself into. "I had many siblings, mind you. However, I dared not disrespect anyone."

"Yeah, well that's you." Aki couldn't be bothered with Shizuru's lack of understanding ,as she threw her school bag off to the side. "We're different...in case you hadn't noticed."

"Simmer down now." Kane said to her softly as he slipped off his muddy shoes and his jacket. "It was just one bad day, that's all." He also chucked his bag over to the side, and stretched, popping his back a few times. "Now that we're home, time to chill out a bit." It was a messy, clustered home, that lacked a womanly touch.

Natsuki had kept it up in haphazard order for the longest time, and while the resident foreman was a wonderful parent, she was a horrific housekeeper. She could cook basic meals, but the cleaning was another matter entirely. It was done minimally at best, though being a single parent who worked long hours, would do that to a person. Cleaning was normally last on the list of things to do. That had changed when Shizuru agreed to move in. She took that task with a vengeance. That and cooking fell upon her shoulders, frozen or leftover meals often a thing of the past.

"Hey mommy dearest, I'm going to go smoke, so give me my cigarettes." Aki demanded holding out her hand. "I know you took them out of my school bag."

"Natsuki can give them back, if she truly wishes you to have them." Shizuru told her firmly. "It's a horrid habit to have, really. You should stop while you still can." It was a battle she'd been waging, and it was a losing one at that. "It'll be harder later to quit later."

"I already understand that clearly." Aki was not in the mood for this today. Instead, she just wanted to decompress without a mothering hen flying over her shoulder. "Don't think I'll let get away with this crap! Just because Mai can, doesn't mean that you can." Aki said, knowing that the carrot top could give her a run for her money. Shizuru however, wasn't allowed the privilege of that yet. "Just give me my smokes...it's the weed I need supervision with, not cigarettes."

"Aki, try to understand." Shizuru begged her to listen. "There are better ways to go about dealing with stress." One closeted son, and a rebellious daughter...twins...Shizuru's children that for the longest time, she had been estranged from. They were now in her life again. It wasn't always easy to deal with, and all of them were still trying to find balance, one that she sometimes feared wouldn't ever come to her. "Just because your mom and Nao do it, doesn't mean you should always lean on their bad habits."

"I don't see why you care." Aki for all intents and purposes, was the spitting image of Shizuru. "Waltzing in here, acting as if you own the place, really Shizuru...get a grip." It wasn't at all an oddity, since she was their birth mother. "You don't own us." Though, Aki's personality was not one in which could be so easily explained. "Come on, Kane." Venomous to the core, and hard to manage on any given day, she was a spitfire. "Let's go chill with Nao."

"I have exams to study for." The lone male of the house said, shaking his head. "After that, I need to go meet up with Tate. My form is lacking, and I really need to step it up." He looked at his sister sadly. She was the only one he could truly be at ease with. They were honestly like glue. "I want to make the team in high school."

"What a drag." Aki sighed, as she looked outside, the rain pouring down even harder than before. "Can you at least give me a ride? I've got thirty more hours to go before I can get my permit."

"Are you kidding?" Kane laughed as he went back down to sit at the computer. "I'm not going to be your slave...besides, mom took the truck today, and I've no idea how to drive a motorcycle. You're going to have to walk, unless she-who-shall-not-be-named will let us take her car." At the reference to Shizuru's vehicle, he saw his sister curse under her breath. "What did I do now?" Incredulous, he shrugged, and went back to his typing.

"Screw it...I'll just walk." Aki grumbled as she tossed on one of Natsuki's leather jackets. "Catch you later, bro." Her venomous retreat was quick as she nearly slammed the door behind her. It hadn't also gone unnoticed that Aki had completely avoided Shizuru, who was merely standing at her place, lost for words.

It was normal.  
It was common.  
It was Aki's attitude.  
It was because of the situation.

Shizuru had heard all kinds of excuses, but none of them really seemed fitting. Though, she had to admit, she and Aki had come a long way from the difficulties they had once faced, the truth was, there was still a deep divide between them. Part of it, a rather large chunk of it really, was because she was concerned for Aki. Trying to be a nurturing parent, however, was backfiring horribly. "I will never be forgiven, will I?" She wouldn't blame either of her children, if that were the case.

"Don't take it personally." Kane told her as the chair squeaked loudly as he turned to face her. "She's just upset because she flunked out of another year."

"Yes, well I'm sure I'm not being of any help either." She went back to arranging things on the mantle. The next thing she picked up, just happened to be an old photograph, one that faded with time, but held the dearest of memory. "I was thinking that by moving in here, it would help ease her mind, at least, a little bit."

"Who knows...Aki's always like that." Kane shrugged, opening up a different browser, one of his games up and running in windowed mode. "She has a lot in common with Nao...I think that's just the way they are." He was busy running around, and typing away in chat logs, but he didn't have his headset on. "I wouldn't let her get to you." Absentmindedly, his eyes watched her continue flit about the room, and he sighed, bored. "You know, you don't have to clean every spec of dirt." Though, he found amusement, as she tried to rid the crown moldings of cobwebs. They had been a natural part of the decorum, at least, in his honest opinion. "No one's really going to notice."

"I most assuredly will." Shizuru replied, unused to the hardships of cleaning a completely dirty ceiling. "Why did your mom go wandering off anyway?"This was something she normally wouldn't have to worry about, but the entire household needed attention only her diligence could gift...and if that in and of itself were not enough, the fact she craved some type of order came next on the list. She had only just recently trained Natsuki to put dirty clothing in the laundry basket on the first attempt, instead of trying to use the hamper as a basket ball hoop. "She was going to help me with this, as I recall." It was a small victory, and yet, one gigantic leap in the right direction.

During his fight with a monster on the screen, and his tapping of the keyboard, he didn't bother to regard her with his eyes. Those were firmly plastered to the screen, his headset around his neck to hear the goings on, though, his microphone was currently muted. "Yeah, and she got the entire stairway done before she rushed out of here this morning." A string of curses came through the headset, and silently, he agreed with the sentiment, as the raid group died, though it was only their first attempt. "I think she had another doctor appointment today."

"That would explain it." Though, she wondered why Natsuki insisted on doing everything alone. "She was a basket case this morning."

"I still think mom's nuts." Kane said, though, he'd known for a while that Natsuki had been considering having a child of her own, another sibling wasn't exactly something he wanted. Indifferent to the entire cause, he merely accepted it as apart of the natural order, or lack of it, that consumed his entire life. "The whole donor thing, really is a bad idea."

"Why on earth do you think that?" Shizuru paused, regarding Kane with worry in her eyes.

"Did Aki's whole tantrum really fly over your head so fast?" He shook his head. "Blowouts like that happen for a reason. I wouldn't want to be caught on the receiving end of any of it. Mom is a brave person, to want to invite that kind of trouble again. A donor would do that."

"It's different, Kane." Shizuru said, once again being reminded of her faults and transgressions, of which she had several. "I was to blame for that."

He just shook his head. "It isn't different." He replied softly, though he was more focused on the game in front of him. "I wish that it was, but really...it's not. The donor is kinda going to be like you...a figment of someone who just wasn't there." His words weren't mean to be harsh, just simply honest. "It's all up to how someone sees things, and you'll just have to hope they don't think of it, the same way my sister did."

…

"Okay, so you were all on bad terms." Takeda said in mumbled confusion. "But what does that have to do with the fact that Natsuki was pregnant?"

"Not bad exactly." Kane amended. "We were just...all a little uneasy."

"Yes...I can see that." He was still lost. "However, what does that have to do with Natsuki at all?" Takeda asked, yet again.

"A lot more than you'd think, actually." Shizuru said, trying her best to do justice to the situation. "I was struggling to find my place in the household, and there were times I found myself apprehensive about adding more onto the already problematic situation."

"I insisted though." Natsuki said, in truth, she was a bit singled minded about the fact. "I would have gone though with it, with Shizuru there or not...so she had nothing to worry about." She put a hand over Shizuru's knee to steady her, and they both took a calming sigh, with a small smile on their faces. "We both agreed that when she moved in, that it wouldn't change our individual lives. So, I really didn't have a say in what she did, and she hadn't the right to add a word in edgewise to what I did."

"The only thing we both had to agree on, was what to do about Kane and Aki." Shizuru explained further. "Though, in truth, Aki back in those days saw me as a freeloader, and Kane wasn't a troublemaker in the first place." A bit sadly, she sighed, recalling that. "I relented a lot, when Nao and Natsuki made a discussion, because I felt a bit inadequate."

"Well, it was one thing having her a house away. Having her actually living with us, was an entirely different thing." Aki spoke up. "It pissed me off, because she put a bunch of stupid rules over my head."

"They weren't stupid." Natsuki told her. "You were just intent to be more difficult than you should have been."

"Can't say that I blame her." Nao rolled her eyes at the look Natsuki shot her. "What?! You know just as well as I do, that no one gave a rats ass about what Shizuru said. Not even you."

"That's a bit over the top." Natsuki said then. "Though, bluntly speaking, Nao has the right idea." Natsuki knew better than to worry about it early on. "That's why it was hard back then, for all of us." Natsuki told Takeda directly. "It was a time of change. Really, my being pregnant, was only part of the way our lives changed."

"If you're going to hear part of it, you really should hear it all." Mai agreed readily. "Trust me, it'll be worth it in the end."

"You'll just get confused otherwise." Nao smirked. "Besides, some of this crap is golden."

"Sounds pretty blasé to me." Takeda shrugged.

With a sigh, Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you want me to do, blow fire out of my ass and do a song and dance?"

"I'll go get a blowtorch!" Nao blurted out, for lack of amusement.

"If you could, that would be pretty funny." Aki laughed, as Nao gave her a high five.

"There are just some things I really don't want to think about." Kane uttered with a scowl on his face.

"Indeed." Shizuru agreed. "And that would be one of them."

"We're talking about our normal everyday lives, idiot." Natsuki finally said then to quiet down the ruckus. "However, Takeda, let me put it to you this way..."

* * *

Well, there's chapter 1 of the 4th story. More to come later...likely next week.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: POV segments will be their own chapter in this story...I think it'll help keep the over all story cleaner...all of them will come from Natsuki, like before. This, clearly will result in some very short chapters, because the POV aren't huge in length...but, I hope it will give the story a better flow than how they were sitting in the middle of the story for White Fence...

If you don't like this...don't read it...just leave me alone...I'll leave you alone, and we can simply exist...(what a novel concept.)

Chapter 2  
(Natsuki POV)

There really isn't much to tell, Takeda, even though I know you think there's some grand story..then again, you were always inqusitive back then too, so what should I expect?

I don't have much to say. I mean, I could bore you with trivial details, but really, would that be enough? I think not. Though, I did promise I'd tell you. I guess, if you really wanted, I could. There's nothing huge about it. Life is funny like that, isn't it? In the heat of the excitement and all...okay, it was a huge deal...anyway, if I had to describe the experience, it would be like this:

Overwhelming in the best of times.  
Completely insane others.  
You feel like shit.  
You have highs.  
You have lows.  
Sometimes you eat crazy concoctions.  
Your bladder grows a mind of it's own.  
Sometimes you smell things, normally pleasant things, and you just want to keel over...because for whatever reason, you just can't take it.

Then, things start not to fit...and things with no give just don't feel good...you start to replace jeans with anything that has a drawstring, or a soft midsection...so you walk around in clothing that just isn't your style, because at least it doesn't feel restrictive...sometimes your forgo getting dressed at all and spend the day in your pajamas, because low and behold, you don't even care if you roll out of bed...yeah, sometimes sleeping isn't easy.

Oh, yeah...and you get dizzy, not often, but...well, I did, but I was an idiot. It all depends more on how much you over do it. I'm not used to just sitting around, and letting everyone else do things for me. At first, I made things difficult because of it. They say the first trimester is the absolute worst. I have to agree. I really do, it sucks. I'll bet if I would have taken it a little easier, rested just a little bit more than normal, then, I'm sure it wouldn't have been so bad. You know how it goes though, don't you? Anyway, that's not all that happens, and trust me, I wish it was...

Really...it gets complicated sometimes...

There are times that you just need people...I mean...really, really need them...Takeda. When you feel like no one cares, or understands. Even if you know better than to think it, sometimes you just can't help it. Yeah, you can rationalize it in your head just fine, but, it doesn't stop you from crying. It does weird things...really, really weird things...all of that stuff, it's only the tip of the iceberg. It gets so much more personal than that.

Dude...I kid you not.

Sometimes, your libido goes berserk, and others, you don't even want to think about sex. Your boobs will hurt, and the baby will just kick around inside, and that's not always comfortable...I mean it gets to the point, sometimes, when you just want to be left well enough alone...oh, that?

All of that is nothing...I could say far worse.

Takeda...trust me, modesty is the least of my worries...and no shit it bothered me...but...well...listen, this entire pregnancy thing, it sort of robs you from at least some level of modesty. I mean, well...doctors do things, people see things...and there's a side of a person the comes out...it's not that it isn't really them...but rather, it's a personal side.

It just isn't something you can completely hide...so you get used to being embarrassed...either that, or...well, I don't know what you would do otherwise...besides walking around mortified all the time...I guess some people do that. Hell, I was tempted at first to do that.

It's delicate...  
Fleeting...  
Impossible...  
I don't know if I would call it magical...but...it's out of this world for sure...  
Yet, it's completely real...you can't stop the realities from crashing down around you...  
Sometimes, you don't even want to.

Anyway, Takeda...I don't have a problem telling you about it...because I promised that I would...but, only because I trust you. This feels weird...explaining stuff like this...anyway...since we're among family here...I guess I can make an exception...

I couldn't say there were many times in my life that left me completely, utterly shocked. I'll bet I could easily count all of them on one hand, and all of them, ironically, were the times I knew that life would get turned upside down. Irreversibly so, in fact, if I were to sit and really think about it. This newest choice of mine wasn't an easy one. In fact, it was one of the most difficult choices of my life. Everyone always makes it sound so easy, but, it's not. It wasn't like I was some young woman anymore.

I'm not exactly all that old, either. I'm in my early thirties, so...it's almost perfect.

I'm at that age, old enough to understand the world, and all of the difficulties it brings. Yet, still be young enough to keep up with the inadvertent ruckus that this type of choice would bring to the table. It was truly, utterly, a choice for me. I agonized over it. Once I deiced I would go through with it, I tried really hard to select every aspect that I could, right down to the very donor. With a careful diet, and instructions from my doctor, I had begun the road to parenthood on a rocky start. At first, stress, and uncertainty about every little detail, well it made me really upset...but that's why Aki said I was horrible.

I was stuck wondering for no small amount of time, if this was really a good idea.

It was a road I'd visited once before. I'm ashamed to admit this, actually. Back then, I was in my late twenties. I thought it was perfect back then too. I really wanted it to be. In my head, I had this plan, and I thought, just like everything else, it would work...why wouldn't it? That's what I thought.

My job was stable, my life was everything I expected it to be, and with a home squarely placed under my belt, I had amused, on several occasions, to attempt to get pregnant.

For all that I'd tried, and that was no small effort, it came up a failing endeavor. The implanted eggs didn't take, and while that thought depressed me to no end, I'd thrown herself even further into my work. I used my job as a way to push away the pangs of emotions that would have otherwise consumed me. It's a time I really don't want to explain...so that's what we're going to skip over.

Because it's complicated, that's why!

Takeda, I'm not going to talk about that, so lay off...I promised I'd tell you about Rin, and that's what I'm doing. Anyway, I really wanted it to work out...I wanted my own kid, a little person from me...

I hadn't been in a committed relationship back then, and had to cope on my own, with very minimal support from others. My independence, was a stubbornness at the time. Being pigheaded was probably an innate gift of mine...Okay, it is a gift of mine...fuck you too, Nao. Can't I say my peace?

My stubbornness had gotten me beyond hardship on more than one occasion in the past. So, I fell back on it...and even if that made me a difficult person, I was also unrelenting in the face of a problem. I'd like to say it was my saving grace. I had Kane and Aki to worry about anyway, since they were in school by that point, and Aki was becoming a little fighter though and through. So, needless to say, even if I had wanted to wallow in my own self pity, I didn't have the chance, really.

Yes, Mai...I know, I know. I do rely on others now...Mai, stop it with your blubbering! Oh, sweet lord, save me now. Mai, my depression during that was a painful time...it was something I protected and fought fiercely...I didn't know how to really fall back on other people.

Don't Mind her, Takeda...Mai just cries a lot, when I talk about this...blubbering pain in my ass...as I was about to say, before these two redheaded idiots decided to get all weird on me...it was because of my determination, and a few years of reflection, that I decided it was time to ultimately try again. I really did want a baby, and I felt like this time it might be different...just might, but I didn't count my chickens, so to speak.

Looking at the situation this time, with the glass only half full, it was no wonder why I refused anyone to really get involved at first, not even Shizuru. This battle was a personal one for me. They were my own fears. My own goals and dreams that were not exactly ones that could be quelled by the support of others. I needed the space, and the breathing room...when the doctors appointment finally rolled around..the one that would give me my answer to everything that had been bothering me through the process...I needed the car ride and the peace of my own little world.

So...needless to say, on that rainy afternoon that Kane, Aki, and Shizuru found themselves at odds, I found myself stunned.

When this news hit my ears this time, it was as if reality had somehow mingled with my most dire wishes...either that, or I was dreaming.

Things I would never really admit, but clung onto deeply, seemed to finally win out. The car ride home gave me a new set of things to muse about, a new way to keep my mind busy. I remember that...my mouth was quite dry, and though I wished for a beer, or some soda, I found myself sipping on bottled water. That in and of itself contrasted with my usual tastes, but it was one truth of many. I was doing it out of my own volition, and when I considered why I would even bother with it...

A smile slid across my face.

It was that same, idiotic delirium, that I was sure I had manged to stop another fight, when I finally entered the kitchen later that evening. Nao was the first one to take notice of me, but when silence came from around the table, Shizuru turned away from the oven...I forget how I told them the news, but I do remember that everyone was giving me this really weird look after I'd said it. In fact, Aki fell off the chair she was sitting on...

No, Nao, I told you, I really don't remember!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: In this story, I really wanted to give Kane and Aki a larger role, and work with them more as far as their interactions with Shizuru. So, this chapter is Kane, Shizuru, and Aki interaction heavy. A little Shiz/Nat thrown into the mix for cuteness, but other than that, this is more of a developmental chapter for the twins than anything. Chapter 4 will be Natsuki heavy

Don't own Mai HiME/Mai Otome.

**Chapter 3**

"How the hell do you forget something like that!" Nao barked. "Not even I can forget what you said, so why did you?"

"I had other things on my mind!" Natsuki shot back. "You can't blame me for being just a little surprised!"

"Stop bickering." Shizuru chided quietly. "At any rate, when Natsuki came home for dinner, we were all just a little on edge." Shizuru said then, with a soft smile. "Up until then, even Nao had been in a bad mood."

"When isn't she?" It wasn't a question to be answered though, as the teen with brown eyes spoke. "Anyway, mom came into the kitchen stunned." Kane told Takeda. "Like she'd been hit in the face or something...it was really weird. I didn't really know what to think, and even when her mouth started moving, it was like she didn't even know she was talking."

"I remember that." Nao cackled, as Aki began spluttering her drink. "She did that at first too!" Nao explained pointing at the other teen.

"Did you hear what came out of her mouth?" Aki shouted, she could remember that day clearly. "It was like out of another world. My mom never, and I mean never, sounds like that! I about died when I heard it."

"Heard what?" Natsuki then looked at her daughter. "What did I sound like?"

"A woman." Kane said, his bored drone dripping in his answer. "You stay pretty husky on the scale unless you're caught off guard...but whatever came out of your mouth that day, it wasn't anything like your usual tone."

"I would argue, that she can sound like that quite often." Shizuru said with a smirk at the twins, who visibly blanched. "It is quite a lovely sound, when she makes it." At that, it was Nao's turn to make a face. "Anyway, Natsuki said _'I can hardly believe this...but it worked.'_ all the while, she was catching flies."

"I'm just glad that's all she was doing." Nao muttered, her gaze on Shizuru. "You looked like you were so happy, you would have jumped her bones right there on the table." Then she turned to Takeda, who's face was already a deep shade of red. "I know for a fact the sex was good later that evening...Natsuki forgot to put the pillow in the laundry shoot."

"Did you have to announce that?!" Natsuki growled, her face an even darker crimson. "Ass hat!" Her statement was made clear as she tossed her nearly full bottle of water clear across the patio, and in Nao's direction.

"We all heard it." Kane mumbled then as his eyes shot to the ground, not at all please with his vicious aunt for reminding him. "I was studying..." The wooden deck had now become quite interesting.

"And you guys were louder than normal." Aki added, with a shiver...she didn't want to recall anything either. "I ditched in the middle of the night to go out with Midori...I had to get drunk after hearing that crap."

"That was my fault, I'm afraid." Shizuru said, coming to put a hand onto Natsuki's shoulder. "I was overjoyed, as one might expect."

…  
(Flashback)

Shock, awe, and a sleepless night graced most of the household. For Kane, staying up to the wee hours of the morning studying, consumed his time. His desire to play video games in the quiet of the living room was also another habit of his, so sleep rarely found him before the stroke of midnight. For Aki, it was all a matter of insomnia, her troubles keeping her up as her grades continued to plummet, and she knew there was no hope in sight for her to graduate this year. Considering the offer to quit school, it seemed more and more like a profoundly good idea. Still, she was a mind that liked to think often, even when there was little to think about...and she was tossing and turning because of it.

Nao's celebration, or rather her idea of it, left her sprawled out rather unceremoniously upon the floor, so drunk she couldn't drive. Natsuki doubted that Nao could even walk home in such a state, wasted was not nearly enough of a description, and blasted lacked Nao's true ability to still function while inebriated. Her declarations of excitement were colorfully painted in ways only she could possibly come up with. In her defense, she had been awaiting news with a sense of foreboding, so, when the air seemed clear, Nao couldn't help herself. She simply had to rejoice the only way she knew how.

It was however, the last two in the household, that took a joy in simply finding warmth as the night went on.

"We aren't out of the woods yet." Natsuki reminded Shizuru gently. Though she was pleased to find out something positive, she knew she had to keep a level head, least she be disappointed yet again in her life. "And that tickles." She chided softly as she let her fingers intertwine with that wandering hand. "I'd rather not be sent into a fit of giggles tonight."

"You'll have to forgive me." In fact, when Shizuru thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time Natsuki had actually come to bed and stayed there. "This is a treat tonight." It hadn't been within recent weeks. "You've been so restless recently." Natsuki would come to bed, and she would stay there long enough for the woman she loved to fall asleep, but then Natsuki would get into a pattern, pacing all around in a big circle downstairs. That's why tonight was of particular interest, the woman of midnight tresses having stayed in one spot for longer than just an hour. "I missed this, you know." She had even been more than just a little affectionate, something Shizuru was grateful for.

"Yeah, sorry. I've been an ass." Natsuki apologized, knowing full well she'd been more than just a little edgy recently. "I know I shouldn't have gone off on my own so much, but there was just a lot to think about." She pulled Shizuru a little closer at that, missing their embrace, something that was normally a second nature. "I'm actually kinda wondering if I'm going to start to be in a perpetually bad mood." She'd been downright rude to Nao, their cussing matches getting to near obscene levels, even more than usual. "I hope I won't be, but you never know."

Shizuru nodded into their embrace, a soft hum enough to elude that Shizuru understood perfectly.

"I was a terror, when I was carrying the twins." Shizuru replied then with a bit of mirth, elaborating the feeling. "The smallest thing would infuriate the daylights out of me. I sometimes felt as if I was losing my mind, the second month was just horrible." In that, at least she understood completely, though she knew Natsuki's worries stemmed from a different place, and a different time. "Although, I doubt you'll experience the same troubles I did, my family wasn't at all supportive. I'm sure, in large part, that made my temper worse than it would have been."

"I'm sure it wasn't all that bad." Natsuki said then, nuzzling into Shizuru. "You're pretty mild mannered."

"When you're like this, so are you." Shizuru murmured, pulling Natsuki into a lazy kiss. "I like it, when you get into a cuddly mood."

…

"Cut it off there." Natsuki said in a rush, gently cupping a hand over Shizuru's mouth. "I really don't want them hearing about that kind of stuff." When she removed her hand, Shizuru's telling smirk was enough to make her wince. "Shizuru..I mean it."

"Oh, don't worry, Natsuki." Shizuru said then, as she sighed, leaning into Natsuki's shoulder. "I wouldn't think to say something uncouth."

"Fine, I'll say it!" Nao chortled then. "They went at it like jackrabbits in heat."

"That's putting it mildly." Aki agreed, though she wasn't happy about it.

"And with that, I'm going to start doing the dishes." Mai blurted out, just a little faster than she had meant to. "They won't wash themselves."

"G-Great idea." Natsuki stammered. "I'll go with you."

"Aw, don't leave me hanging around." Takeda protested watching as the two women proceeded to gather all of the dishes. "I wanna hear more."

"Good, then sit down." Shizuru chuckled, watching as her lover fled the backyard in haste. "The next part of this, we don't need Natsuki for."

"You're right, it's probably better if we say it." Aki agreed, looking over at Shizuru and then at Kane. They all nodded, and then she turned to Takeda. "You're like family...so I guess we should tell you...up until that point, we three didn't exactly get along. Kane and I, we're as close as siblings can get...but her?" She said, her thumb pointing in Shizuru's general direction. "Yeah...we fought all the time."

"It was a war every single day." Kane agreed. "Mostly between the two of them, and I was so sick of it. When we found out mom was pregnant though, we kinda had to call a truce. Not that we hadn't before, but we needed a better one." He leaned back on the side of the house and sighed. His little sister awake, but was contented to be left well enough alone for the moment. "Aki and I had talked about it off and on before, about treating Shizuru more nicely, but as much as we wanted to try, it was hard moving past a lot of our problems."

Aki nodded, as she looked over to the side before pulling a cigarette out of the pack in pocket and moving a little further away, so the smoke would waft down wind. "The one thing we could agree on, was that we didn't want to hate her forever...but, we didn't exactly like that she kept trying to treat us like little kids, so one day, when mom was out of the house, we cornered her."

"Cornered her?" Nao questioned as she when to join Aki. "That's the first time I've heard of this one."

"Well, you're the one that told us to give her an offer she couldn't refuse." Aki told Nao, accusation at the forefront of her tone. "So, when I talked to Kane about it...he couldn't help but agree...we needed better ground rules." Though, with an apologetic look she glanced over at Shizuru. "It wasn't just about us though." She shrugged as she looked back to Takeda. "We didn't want her ditching any time soon. When we found out mom was knocked up, we thought that she just might. We jumped to some stupid conclusions."

"It wasn't as if I could blame you." Shizuru said then softly. "I wouldn't say they cornered me, exactly. However I can say this, if Natsuki were to ever catch wind of what went on that day, she would be quite angry. I would appreciate it if this was kept under wraps."

"You got it chief." Nao said, popping the top to another beer. "This is gonna be good."

"I doubt it'll be as good as you assume." Shizuru sighed, looking over at the door...Her eyes met Natsuki's own for a moment, and they shared a smile, before Natsuki went back to helping with the dishes. "Well, let's get it over with."

"Yeah...before mom comes back out." Aki waited as their group huddled a little closer. Then she gave Shizuru one last apologetic glance, and slung an arm around her brother. "So, like I was saying...Kane and I both agreed we needed different ground rules, if we were going to be able to live with her." She didn't much care when he rolled his eyes, or that he tried to get out of her grasp. "So, we made a plan, but it wasn't exactly like we could just talk to her when mom was home."

"Besides that, I didn't really have that big of a problem with her around." Kane replied when his sister elbowed him in the ribs. "But, I guess, at that point, I was still a little skeptical about thinking of her as our mother. I mean, it just felt weird." Finally, when Aki elbowed him in the ribs a second time, he pulled her off roughly, watching as she toppled down into the grass. "That, and my sister had to grow up eventually. She still acted like a little punk back then."

"I did not!" Aki bellowed. "He's the one that thought I would never forgive her!" Aki stuck her tongue out at him. "Now I switch between calling her by name, or by Mama." That was what they eventually settled on calling her, but it had been a long, hard road before then. "Back then, it was always just her name."

"Well, you weren't very nice to her." Kane told his sister pointedly. "In any case, we had to clear some bad air."

"So what did you do?" Takeda asked, as he looked over at the twins. "You didn't get into a huge fight did you?"

"No...it wasn't anything like that." Aki said with a shake of her head.

"It doesn't matter, everything ended in a stalemate anyway." Kane announced then, as if that part were so utterly truthful, that it bothered him, even today. "Nothing I could have done would have changed that fact, not back then. Emotions were still a little raw for it, I think."

"Raw indeed. You see, Takeda, they waited for a day when Natsuki ended up working earlier than Aki." When Rin began to fuss, Shizuru went over and picked the baby up, cradling her. "I was home in the house alone with them, and Kane had the day off from school." Shizuru remembered that morning quite well. "Needless to say, when they both came walking into the kitchen with sour looks on their faces, I got a little worried."

…  
(Flashback)

It was late in the morning when Shizuru sat at the kitchen table, enjoying some tea, and the morning paper. The house was devoid of ruckus, a rarity she intended to enjoy, though she found it odd, that Natsuki had been the only one to come down for breakfast. None the less, she'd cooked a decent meal for two, and enjoyed the quiet company of her lover before both Natsuki, and an irate Nao, left to go to work. She considered herself lucky that she had the opportunity to be so relaxed, having finished most of her research, and was awaiting a call from the museum.

Other than daily chores, of which she found many to add to her mental list, there was little else to do but enjoy herself.

That's why it came as no small shock when two very pensive teens not only came down stairs, they both sat at the table, not at all pleased. As she carefully put down her paper to regard them, she noticed that they were in no mood for pleasantries. "Is everything alright?" Such a question replaced a more appropriate morning greeting, but Shizuru feared that would have aggravated them more.

"We need to talk." Aki's voice abruptly cut through the morning, just as her stare of cold crimson so normally did.

"Without mom around." Kane said then, his voice a little bit more at ease. "This is between us three. So don't go telling her about it afterward."

"Alright." With a calculating sip of tea to steady herself, Shizuru found that her children were indeed her own flesh and blood. "I suppose I can agree to that." If such looks could kill, there would have been a stalemate right there on the kitchen table. Kane was calmer, but there was no mistaking it, Shizuru had seen that gazed often enough before to detect the slight edginess to his otherwise placid feelings. Aki, forever the raging spitfire, was far more colorful in her actions, her arms crossed in a manner that overly made her feelings known. "So then, just what is it that you wish to discuss."

"As if you don't know!" Aki was about to fly off the handle, as she had been gearing to do when Kane's hand on her shoulder stopped her from her tirade.

"The new baby." Kane said then as he looked over at his sister. "We have a few concerns." His voice remained steady, even when his eyes began to wander away from the women at the table. "I'm not particularly worried about it, but Aki is."

Guilt immediately flooded Shizuru's features. "I see." She knew then, exactly what this was about, and it wasn't any small feat to keep herself composed at such an admission. "I won't leave." She said then, almost more quickly than she would have liked, clutching onto the warm mug of tea. "I promise you that I won't, no matter what." She loved Natsuki, she wanted this life, and all of the inadvertent ruckus that came with it. "I understand, if you doubt me, but I'm here now. I won't be going anywhere."

"That kid is going to have a real family, you got that?" Aki huffed out, still more on the defensive than she really wanted to be, but that little trickle of pride wouldn't let her live it down if she got soft in a time like this. "Mom thinks she can do it on her own, and I know how she gets. When we were little, she tried to take on the world for us." Aki wouldn't let that happen this time.

Kane sighed, shaking his head. "What Aki means, is that mom will over do it, if we let her." There was no nice way to put it. His mother was a workaholic on the best of days, and bad tempered on the worst. "That means we have to put aside our differences now." He looked at his sister carefully. "This has to stop, no more fighting on general principal." Then he turned to look at Shizuru. "And you have to stop being over protective as well."

"I didn't realize I was being such a thing." Shizuru had actually tried, on several occasions, to turn a blind eye to many of the incidents the twins got themselves into. "There are times, I fear, that Natsuki lets the two of you run wild. As if there isn't any order in your lives." It bothered Shizuru often, but Natsuki's attitude on things stuck, and Shizuru for the most part, relented the fact many times. Now though, she was living in the household, and felt it was time to at least put down ground rules, ones that admittedly everyone was pointedly ignoring, including Natsuki herself. "It's lackadaisical at best, I hope you know that."

"Even if it is, that's for us to decide." Among the many rules that Kane thought topped the list of idiocy, there were no small few. "In the past week of being here, you've outlawed Aki's smoking, which as only blown up in your face, because she does it mostly with Nao, or mom, and they both let her. Then there's that stupid curfew thing...that just isn't going to work." He sighed while shaking his head. "I don't particularly care what rules you put in place, because I'll just ignore them." Still he pointed at his sister. "She, on the other hand, will keep complaining about it, and I'll be the one listening to it."

For not the first time after trying desperately to understand her own children, she released an addled breath. "There are rules and structure to how the world works." Just because Natsuki pointedly ignored some of them, didn't mean she should be instilling those same values in the teens. Both of them still very impressionable, in their own ways. "You've been lucky to live so freely, but that kind of thing often invites unwanted trouble, Aki especially, should know that." The girl got into enough bare knuckle brawls, that it should have been beyond obvious. "It can't keep up forever though. Sooner or later, life will make you yield..even if you want it to or not."

"I'd like to think we aren't so dense, as not to see that." Kane muttered, glancing over at his petulant sister. "Trust me, I don't like half of the things she does either. You do eventually learn to ignore most of it, though." It was how he got by, being concerned only troubled him. He knew that Aki couldn't see beyond her own selfishness most of the time. "Really, it's better if you do. It'll be easier on you."

"I don't want to ignore it." In fact, Shizuru felt like she was grasping at straws, trying to do quite the opposite. She was clutching at borrowed time, trying to make up for everything she hadn't been around for. These little strangers in front of her were something beyond what she could truly understand. All of the years had made them inseparable as a brother and sister...and yet...they were so different it was nearly explosive. "I couldn't be around for the two of you before, but I can be here now. I understand if you don't like it. However, I would like it, if I could show you both, that there are other ways to live."

"Ways I don't really give a damn if I see, or not." Aki finally spoke back up, and this time, her brother's cool glare couldn't calm her. "Those ways might be good for Kane, but for me?" No, she'd already decided she wasn't going back to school. That was something that was already bugging her, a failure she just hated, but she knew the more she kept banging her head on the proverbial brick wall, the more she would only suffer. "I want to figure out my own way to do things, a person like you just wouldn't understand." She couldn't deal with it, Shizuru being around so much. "Anyway, I don't care what rules you set up, I will break them. I just don't care."

As much as Kane expected that this would happen, he watched as his sister stormed out of the room, and though the front door. He sighed, knowing a lot of this came from Shizuru general presence. "You know, it was one thing when she could keep you at arms length." Now, they couldn't exactly do that. Shizuru was living in their home, and sleeping with their mother. They were slowly turning into some type of a family, and Kane felt edgy about that, knowing it didn't sit well with Aki. "She can't see beyond her own anger, and that's her fault." However, the thing that was really bothering him, wasn't something he was sure he wanted to deal with. "I'm caught in the middle of a lot of things." He finally said as he found the fruit basket more interesting to look at. "I'd like to think, I see things better, because of that."

"She's my sister, so I've got to look out for her, and support her." Aki would always come first, that's just the way things had to be. "Aki's used to hiding behind me, because I'm the brother. She can pick fights, because she knows I'll back her up...not that she really needs the help, but if she does, I would be the first one to jump in." He shrugged, trying to pull his gaze away from the fruit basket so that he could look at Shizuru. "But, what happens really, if this does work out...and mom really does have that baby?" His eyes narrowed, a thought so close, he could almost reach out and hold it in his hands. "Am I really going to allow my sister to keep fighting with you? Am I going to let my youngest sibling really see that kind of thing?" That's what bothered him, this divide wasn't in anyone's best interest.

"Kane, you are not responsible for your sister." Shizuru said then, softly and firmly.

"You aren't either." Kane said then, the admittance like a sword. "She has enough people worrying about her." He stood from his chair slowly, and for the the first time since this woman had walked into his life, he sighed deeply. "It doesn't matter what we say. You're here, aren't you?"

"Yes, Kane." Shizuru nodded slowly. "I am."

"Then just stay, and stop worrying about everyone else. Focus on yourself." He replied quietly. "I'll keep Aki out of trouble, and so will Aunt Nao." Still, with a hesitating breath, he was unsure. "Mom's the one who needs you...so, stop worrying about us. Aki and I will be fine."

…

"Rather non-eventful, really." Nao muttered, she'd been hoping for a blowout of some sort, if only because she would have found it interesting. "I thought for sure there would have at least been more shouting."

"I don't really know why I bothered trying to stop their fighting in the first place." Kane concluded with a shrug. "I knew I would have bad luck, but, I just wanted some peace and quiet. That, and I knew that mom wasn't going to force Aki into being nice. I was hoping that if she knew I wanted it, that things would simmer down." With a bored sigh, he just looked over a Takeda. "You know how it is with girls...they don't know when to quit."

"Hey, at least we aren't like you boys!"

Aki shouted back at her brother. "Guys are total idiots!"

"It did seem to perpetuate for a long time." Shizuru sighed, feeling partly to blame for that, even if she did have only the best of intentions. "We were all a little on edge, not in the least because as much as Natsuki had been planning on carrying a child, and as much as she wanted to do it, she had always seemed to have reservations about it."

"For good reasons." Nao said, the implication carried only for those who knew the truest depths. "Anyway, it was a little while after that, when things started to get interesting."

"If you want to call it that." Aki muttered. "I swear to god, mom was freaking me out for a while there."

Shizuru smiled knowingly at that. "There were times she worried us all. Though, we were all just a little bit paranoid." There were so many times Shizuru herself, found that she lacked sleep over silly little things. "Natsuki always had a particular way to do things, and she was very much stubborn about seeing it through. She always found some sort of odd job to do around the house, mostly because she was restless."

Nao shook her head, as she went to grab the water bottle Natsuki had chucked at her earlier, watching as water dripped from the crack in the plastic. Her lime green eyes regarded each and every drip, something so fleeting, that it was almost exactly like the perfect metaphor for this evening, and countless others in the past. She also knew however, that this type of thing would be the epitome of the future. "Takeda...do you remember back when we were in school?" Nao could remember those times perfectly, and clung onto them often. "Back then, when our problems seemed like they were larger than we could deal with?"

"Natsuki never seemed as bothered by it." Takeda nodded, though the memories were faded for him. "Every time she got into trouble she shrugged it off back then." In fact, that's what lured him in. "I remember thinking of how awesome she looked in those tight biking leathers of hers. I felt jealous of how she could break in and steal things without even thinking twice." Natsuki wasn't such a rebellious personality, though, if you would have seen her back then, you wouldn't have known that. "I always wondered what type of girl could be as complex as that...considering she always felt bad about things, but only after they'd sunk in."

"Yeah..." Nao nodded, that about summed it up. "Well, a lot of that same type of thing happens now. Natsuki's strong, but sometimes because of that, you've gotta stand on the sidelines, and just watch her from afar." When she looked at the baby, she could still see the hints there, that little streak of insistence. "There were times we wanted to be there for her, but sometimes, Natsuki just wouldn't let us. Just like how she insists to go back to work early...no matter what we say, Natsuki isn't going to change that side of her. During her first trimester, she was the same way. Stubborn to a fault."

"A really big fault." Again, Aki couldn't go without tossing in the occasional barb. "You'd think she'd try to rely on others more, when she was getting tired or something, but oh no, she had to give us all a freakin' heart attack." Her words, though harsh, were softened by the soft look in her eyes as they trailed out to look at the grass. "Mom is always stupid like that...ever since I can remember, even when she has a cold, she pushes herself. So, when it came to nine months, well, let's just say Rin was trouble from the start." The soft smile on her lips took away any rude intentions, the group could see that.

Kane could sense the subtle change in the air, and went over to Shizuru, talking his little sister from her arms. "It's getting cool." He said, as if that statement could explain the feelings that seemed to swirl around in his eyes. He was always so watchful over his sisters, and protective, but this was something entirely different. "We're going inside." A side of himself that Aki never really had the chance to receive. He doted on Rin a lot more than he wanted to admit. Even as he closed the glass door behind him, fading into the kitchen, everyone found themselves at his mercy. As if his words were effective law.

"Kane's finally let go of some of his shell, too." Aki explained, she saw it in him clearly. An unspoken, unwavering change. "When it was just Kane and I, he got by, but he wasn't always as decisive as he is now." He had become far more assertive than before. "It's like he's a completely different person, whenever Rin is involved. I don't know why...he just is." Aki still found it confusing, unsure why he felt so compelled to take such an initiative.

"Kane's always had that side of himself buried deep." Tate finally explained. "I don't think you girls can understand it much, it's kinda a guy thing." He looked down at the beer in his glass, it had gotten warm a while ago, and yet as he took a sip, and contemplated that, he just nodded back towards the door. "If I had to explain it, it's like Rin is the fragile one. You can take care of yourself Aki, you've always been able to."

"He doesn't want Rin to grow up that way." Aki could see that much. "Neither do I, but he takes it to a whole different level."

"He's the big brother." Tate didn't see anything odd with it, but then again, he expected that of Kane. "That's his job, and he takes pride in it...like any self respecting man would."

"Either way, it sounds like Natsuki didn't have an easy time of it." Takeda sighed while shaking his head. It was clear by now that she'd had a very busy, if not trying pregnancy. "She can't ever have smooth sailing, can she?"

"Are you kidding?" Nao grumbled. "Talk about damn near impossible."

"It wasn't easy." Shizuru agreed, though, she couldn't help but feel as if that too, was all apart of some master plan the deities had cooked up for them. "However, even in those trying times, emotionally demanding though they were, I could only see her as being more beautiful."

"Oh god." Aki shivered, knowing where that train of thought was headed. "And with that, I'm going to go see if Kane wants to do some gaming. I can't take any more of your romantic crap. It's disgusting."

A flick of Takeda's watch told him that it was indeed getting late anyway. "I should probably be getting home. It's getting late, and I do work early."

"We'll continue this another time then." Nao smirked. "Really, you gotta hear about the first trimester. It's priceless."

"You really do wanna torture the poor man." Tate grumbled. "Runaway while you can now, my friend. It only goes down hill from there."

"Raging hormones, morning sickness, cravings, fatigue." Nao counted off of her fingers. "What's not to like!"

"When it includes Natsuki, I would suspect all of them." Takeda chuckled, but none the less, he was still interested to say the least. "Alas, I'll have to wait until another time."

"What's the fun in that!" Nao barked. "Come on, we can stay for a few more hours."

"Afraid not, Nao." Shizuru said to end the upcoming argument. "You and Aki work first thing in the morning, or did you forget that little detail?"

"Oh damn it all." Nao finally relented. "That just sucks."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Gotta love me in I'm in a spastic mood, and feeling the need to revisit fictions that are not yet completed. I've been all over the place, mainly because it's soothing to me to take breathers for ongoing stories for a bit here and there. I've gotta say, that's one advantage to having a wide variety to choose from. All well, all in good fun.

I don't own Mai HiME/Mai Otome.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Natsuki, are you sure you don't mind them talking about things?" Mai asked as she washed the dishes.

"I'm still unsure about it." Natsuki dried them.

"Then you shouldn't tell him anything at all." Mai scolded, suds dripping down her arm.

"It's only Takeda." Natsuki couldn't hear what they were saying outside. Occasionally though, she paused, watching the people outside from through the glass. "If it were anyone else, I might have a problem with it." She knew for a fact she would. "If we don't tell him as a group, he may hear it from Nao...and she has a one sided perspective on things. Besides, he keeps asking, and I know he's actually interested. It isn't just out of kindness."

"Why did the two of you break up anyway?" Mai asked as she rinsed away the suds from both of the big pots. "I don't remember you guys having a fight."

"We didn't fight...it just wasn't working out." Natsuki shook her head, she remembered well of that debate. "We just worked better as friends, and that's my entire point. If it was anyone other than Takeda, there wouldn't be any way I'd agree to this. He's always been the type to want to know about his close friends." He was loyal when they were teens too, and Natsuki couldn't ever deny that. "I owe him the truth about a lot of things, and this would be one of them."

"Well, as long you're okay with it." Mai shrugged as she leaned on the counter for a moment, worrying her lips between her teeth. "Can I ask you about something? You don't have to answer me if you don't want to, but, there's been something on my mind, and it's kind of personal."

"Mai, trust me, after childbirth, there's no way I could possibly have any modesty left about it." It was a dry, but truthful retort. There were just some things that stripped away such a thing, and for Natsuki, pregnancy was really the offender for that. "So, what's bugging you?"

"It isn't something huge or anything." Mai said then, averting her eyes a bit. "But I was kind of wondering if you had any tips or tricks."

"About knocking yourself up for a second time?" Natsuki asked, the question soft enough to easily be ignored if Mai wanted that. "Nothing yet?" It was without a shadow of a doubt, a touchy subject.

"Nope, not yet." Mai admitted with a sigh. It was something she hadn't wanted to say, still feeling bothered by it. "Honestly, I don't think it'll happen again."

"You know, if you're desperate, you could always try IVF. Though from what I understand, there's a good chance of getting multiples that way." With a soft smile, she looked outside. "I know Tate was bothered by it when he found out that's what I had done, but if you look at how he is with Rin now, you can see that he's changed his tune." Though, sometimes she wondered if it would be the same way, if Mai had wanted to try it. "You should talk to him about it, and see what he says."

"I still don't get why that bothered him in the first place." Mai laughed. "I still think he had some crazy idea dancing around in the back of his head."

"Maybe he did." Natsuki shrugged. "That husband of yours has been weird since day one...a good man, but completely unpredictable." A chorus of laughter rang out from outside, and Natsuki sighed when she saw Kane talking quietly with his sister. "I wonder what it is they're yapping about this time?" A dull, but annoyed expression seemed to flit across his face, barely there at best. "He's troubled by whatever it is."

"It could be any number of things, I'd imagine." Mai answered, handing Natsuki another plate. "If you are aren't worried about it, I'm not either."

"It isn't that I'm not worried about it." Natsuki began slowly. "It's just, it's like Takeda says." Natsuki sighed then, smiling just a little as she put the rest of the dishes away. "No one expected that I would really go through with it. Most women are congratulated, and everyone's instantly happy for them." Natsuki knew that hadn't been her case. "I know I don't act like it, but sometimes, when I'm on my own, I think about that type of thing. It hurt back then, to always have to live up to a particular image." Natsuki shook her head then, knowing well of the truth. "Rin shattered it completely, and everyone else started to see the things I just never really had the guts to say."

The door slid open, Kane's appearance in the kitchen soft, but meaningful. "She's hungry." He said as he handed his little sister off to her mother. It was all he offered as he walked away, finding solace in the living room, and Natsuki followed him so that she could make use of the rocking chair. It wasn't even a short few moments later, when Aki had also found herself hiding in the living room. Mai could only shake her head from the kitchen, thinking to put on some coffee.

…

"I can't believe you're willing to dish out all the stuff you went through." Aki muttered, watching the television screen in front of her, controller in hand. "It's kinda weird you'd really wanna say anything." Her mother was breast feeding Rin nearby, a receiving blanket shielding her exposed breast from view. Normally Natsuki did with out even that. Still, with Tate loitering around, she didn't want to risk flashing the poor man. "You aren't doing anything weird with Takeda, are you?"

"No!" Natsuki blurted out. "He's an old friend. Actually, he and I used to be really close in our younger years. We had a thing, back when we were in middle school." She realized, belatedly, that she never really talked much about her old friends, or about her ex-boyfriend. "Takeda's not a bad guy, but, he's always been a very inquisitive kind of person." It really didn't bother Natsuki either way, though she had to admit, there were time she would lay into him, just as she would Nao. "If he gets into personal stuff, I'll yell at him...it does get the point across."

"And people say I have a bad temper." Aki couldn't help but notice that behind the words there was an honest truth to Natsuki's tone. "I don't know why you would really wanna tell him anything though." In fact, she couldn't see any strong qualities in him, at least not ones Natsuki would take an interest in. "Is he trustworthy with this kind of thing?"

"He and I used to keep in contact with letters back and forth, until recently." Natsuki nodded, having remembered a few of the things she used to tell him in passing. "Even more than that, consider the fact that if he and Nao get any more involved than the two of them already are, there's no telling what could happen. Either way, you're stuck with him around, Aki. So you'd just better get used to it...be it a friend of the family, or eventually another uncle." Natsuki knew it was only a matter of time, really.

"Great, just what I need." Aki's tone made Natsuki sigh. Both of them could feel the weight of things that had long since become unchangeable truths. It fell over them like that of a cloak. Aki's thumb slipped over the pause button and inevitably, just like that, her gun toting character remained in her place. "I've just gotten a handle on dealing with Mama, I don't think I can deal with this new guy trying to change things up again."

Natsuki simply shook her head, a low laugh slipping from her lips. "If anything, Aki, you'll see a side of me that hasn't been around in years. A side that only Takeda could possibly know." As she took a peak under the blanket, wondering why Rin and stopped nursing, she rolled her eyes, the babe had fallen asleep again, something she did whenever she nursed, if she could. Natsuki pulled the cover her bra, and gently placed Rin over her shoulder, rocking her as she slept. "I got through a lot of really humiliating firsts with him. It never felt right, but, I was young...and stumbling through things with him, I guess it taught me a lot about who I was."

"How so?" If red irises could be any more pressing, Natsuki would have felt the searching gaze to be far more than she could handle. Yet, as much as Aki wanted to pry this time, she seemed as if she wasn't so sure of herself. Still, the question was left hanging in the air, and Aki hadn't resumed her gaming.

"It isn't any one single thing, really." Natsuki knew it was a bit more complicated than that. "First romances are hardly successful." Having come up with several others in her teenage life alone, that ended horribly, Takeda was actually a pleasant memory. "But, when Takeda and I broke ours off, we did it while smiling. I remember that because we were playing baseball with a metal pipe and a few rocks. A couple of his friends were there, Tate was one of them, actually...but anyway, I remember that feeling of just being one of the guys. I liked that, better than being in a relationship with Takeda. I wanted him to actually chase me down and tackle me into the ground...not try to take me out for romantic dinners." Natsuki shrugged, her priorities were different back then.

"That's when she started to work out." Mai had come in from the kitchen, as she looked outside. Her husband was still in the middle of drilling Kane in all things kendo related. She shook her head, but leaned back on the bay window. "You may not believe this Aki, but there was a time Natsuki was even more rock solid than she was when you were little. We had several friends that would gather together, but all of the boys would treat me gently. With Nao and your mom, it was an entirely different story."

"Well, I'm sure they would have wrestled around with you too, if they weren't afraid they might hurt you." Natsuki replied, knowing that to be the case. "Anyway, like I told you before, I'm not strictly a lesbian, Aki." Though, in her younger years, shed worked hard to maintain a strong sense of a rebellious self image. "In those days, that's the label that stuck with me, because I encouraged it. Boys stopped noticing me for the longest time, because of that."

"Oh, they noticed." Mai retorted with a jealous lilt to her voice. "They were just afraid to say anything. You had the perfect figure, and even though you didn't have an once of fat on you, you never bulked up. You were solid muscle, but all that did was make your boobs and hips stand out more." Mai shook her head. "Nao and I noticed it too, so there's no way the guys didn't...not with all of the drooling that they did."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to get back into the routine within the next few weeks." She looked down at her belly, there was some extra weight in places she just didn't like. "I never thought I'd say this, but I feel grossly overweight." When she poked her tummy, she felt squishy instead of supple and taunt. "I know I shouldn't say this, but I've got way more going on right there, than I really wanted."

"Welcome to life in the forth trimester." Mai shrugged. "At least all of the post baby hormones are starting to even out."

"Speak for yourself." Aki said point at Natsuki. "She still manages to work herself into being upset. Besides, I thought there were only three."

"Three in the womb, one out." Mai explained, personally loving the theory. "The first three months of a baby's life is always difficult, so sometimes they call it the forth trimester. It's a transitional period, where you're trying to acclimate them to life outside of the womb, and at the same time, acclimate yourself, and your family to the new changes that are sort of thrust upon you as soon as a baby is born." Mai, veteran in that subject merely smirked. "You can prepare for it all you want, but, in the end it'll never be enough."

"Oh god, don't remind me." Natsuki rolled her eyes. The first month had been utter hell in a hand basket. "At least we kinda have a routine going now." Though, it was subject to being screwed over at any given time, Natsuki's life never exactly easy to plan around, and little Rin was always being dragged along for the ride. "That's why I want to get back to work, because if it's going to mess up what little grasp of a schedule that we have, I'd rather do that now than in a few more months. I don't want to be at square one again."

"This is why you should just stay home." Aki grumbled. "That way, she won't get cranky again."

"Well, at least Rin doesn't have an insistent sibling hogging all of the attention." Shizuru came in with a try of tea and cookies. There were traces within the depth of Shizuru's memory that would surface every now and then. Things that just seemed to pop out of nowhere. "Kane was a bit bigger than you, Aki, and he put on weight more easily. You were the screamer, and he was the sleeper. I went through horrible colic with you, I'll have you know."

"So that's why you left her on my doorstep, to torture me." Natsuki said in jest, taking amusement when Aki flipped her off. "Kane had his moments though, he's always been the night owl."

"At least Rin's mild mannered." Though, Mai wondered how long that would truly last, and doubted it would be any length of time. She reached over, accepting the cup of tea Shizuru had given her. Sipping the warm liquid with a sigh, she smiled. "I still think we should take bets and see how long that lasts."

"It doesn't last at all." Natsuki yawned then, she was getting tired. "You should see when I put her down."

"The joys of babies." Aki didn't seemed all that enthused. Rather, she returned to her game, wanting to get back into her personal little escape. Though, when Natsuki passed Rin to Shizuru, and joined Aki, they began a new game on the co-op setting. The others watched, as the mother and daughter gaming duo took the game by storm.

Shizuru only idly thought about that, Rin's future reflected in the merriment of such a thing. The woman of fawn tresses, still didn't quite understand the joys that came with the shooting games, but, that was a clearly defined place where only Natsuki could ever belong. A place a parent and a child found within the moments of bonding. Shizuru knew she had her own ways as well, however it wasn't the same. With Kane, it was gardening. With Aki, it was piano practice and baking sweets. Still, try though she might, she always felt a bit left out. It wasn't because she truly was, but rather, so many years had been lost to her.

She couldn't help but get transfixed, lost in places she knew she missed out on. She vowed never to make that mistake with Rin.

...

Several days later, Natsuki couldn't take it anymore. Packing up a diaper back, she headed into the office for a few hours, seeing the mess her desk had become. With Rin perched protectively inside of her swaddle, cuddling against Natsuki's chest trying to sleep, the woman of midnight tresses looked over her work that she left behind. It sat waiting for her return. Most of it was follow up, projects the company had done that she would need to call and ask about.

For a few hours of peace, besides one dirty diaper and a feeding, Natsuki had finally sorted the stacks of papers, happy for that.

Her office, one that she shared in the back with Nao and Midori, was the smallest part of the building. The open floor plan outside of that was meant for the receptionists and other workers. Aside from an employee break room, and a bathroom that lacked much in the way of comfort, this office was a second home away from the many cold nights that sometimes would greet the old apartments of Natsuki's past.

This place had heat, and they'd often camp out on the floor here in the office, when the bitter windchill became hard to manage. This place had a value, and soon, Rin too would learn of it. Natsuki loved it here, and, the change of scenery was nice, having stayed home more often than not these days. She had been hoping for a productive day, but that was dashed to bits in the early afternoon.

"So come on..." Takeda grumbled between bites of his lunch. "I'm interested. Tell me more, I mean, what was it like when you found out." He came in to visit Nao originally for lunch, since he got off work early. "Did things start changing for you right away?" She however, was not in the office.

"It's a baby Takeda." Natsuki told him, looking at him as if he were completely idiotic for even asking that. "It was a gradual thing. Aside from a light headache, or just feeling a little weird after eating a meal, I didn't feel different. In fact, at first, I thought I would get off easy. After I was told I was pregnant, that only confirmed what I had been praying for. Up until then, I attributed feeling kinda off kilter to just having a bad bout of anxiety." She had tried to cut her soda intake down immensely, but, she still had a least a small glass a day. She wasn't allowed to smoke or drink while breastfeeding, so, she figured soda was not something she was going to completely give up. At least she wasn't drinking coffee, another thing on the list she couldn't have large amounts of. "The thing is, the first trimester is kind of a bitch. Feeling like total shit comes and goes."

At his soft nod wordlessly begging her to continue on, she grumbled. "Here we go again...alright, think of it like this."

…  
(Flashback)

"Jesus, are you alright?" Nao asked as she came into the room holding onto a few metal parts she was about to put away into storage.

"This is worse than the time I thought it would be funny to get drunk, and then eat the entire jar of mayo with a spoon." Her voice was horse and low, as she remained nearly hanging over the sink, hardly standing up at all. With the bottle of mouthwash she'd been keeping near by, she flushed the last of the horrid bile from her mouth and sighed, wiping her face down with a cool, clean washrag. "Turn off the light, would ya?"

"Yeah, sure." Nao said then, dropping her voice to a quieter tone, flicking the light back off. She reached for the can of air freshener, but Natsuki grabbed her hand, shaking her head weakly. "Natsuki, in case you haven't noticed, it reeks in here."

"Don't you even do it you asshole." Natsuki warned. "I will personally beat the ever loving crap out of you." It was the very same smell that lingered in the office, the very one that had made her sick in the first place. Strong scents were bothering her, light was the bane of her existence, and she could have sworn the chicken salad she'd eaten for lunch was trying to kill her...not that any of that remained, her gut still turned to remind her of that fact, as she heaved dryly a few more times, her eyes watering from the force.

"This stuff too?" She looked at the can. "Just great." Nao shook her head, and tossed the spray bottle in the trash, settling for the vanilla scented candle that Midori kept in her desk. "We've got to find an air freshener that won't make things worse."

"Holy hell...did she die in here or something?" That voice was Aki's, as she finally came in carrying two tool boxes and a few belts with things in them. One look at Natsuki caused Aki to sigh deeply. "Mom, go home already..." Natsuki should have just stayed in bed, but stubbornly, she insisted that she was fine. "You've been sick since lunch."

"I was fine until I ate that damn salad." Natsuki muttered then. "Besides, I can't take off work right now."

"Really now?" Though as amusing as it was to normally laugh at her friend, knowing full well just why she was getting sick after a few of her meals, this time wasn't one of them. "Your happy ass is going home." Nao shot back, not having any of it. "Let Shizuru deal with you before keel over on the floor." She forced Natsuki to stand up, and handed her a plastic bag, the only thing she had on hand. "I'm taking this putz back home. I'll be back after that to help sort out the rest of the utility vans."

The car ride home was not the most gentle, Nao's skills lacking greatly when they were in the truck. Natsuki spent the entire time with her eyes closed, willing away pain in her head, but it just wouldn't ebb. When she finally arrived to her house, she couldn't help but find her way over to the sofa, laying down.

Shizuru's lap quickly became a pillow as she curled up, so that her legs wouldn't hang off the edge of the armrest. Nao hadn't escorted her inside, but that didn't matter, as she heard the truck pull out of the driveway. She was just happy her world wasn't moving at the mercy of the potholes in the streets. Shizuru knew better than to say anything, as she gently pulled Natsuki's hair away from her face, just letting her lay there.

Hours trickled by, with only one or the other of them getting up occasion to get something, or, in Natsuki's case, greet the toilet bowl. Finally, her headache went away on it's own, and so did her nausea, after eating saltines and drinking ginger ale. Shizuru was contented to just sit idly by, reading her book, and occasionally, running her fingers through soft, midnight tresses. Soon however, afternoon became evening. "You can't think of anything you'd like to eat?" Shizuru asked, though the grimace was enough of an answer to interpret Natsuki's wish. "Besides crackers, Natsuki."

"Bland." Natsuki muttered, though she didn't really want anything. "Anything mild and bland, I don't even care right now." As if to paint the picture further, she pushed a little square cracker in her mouth, chomping on it with distaste. "This morning's oatmeal sat fine, but the chicken sure as hell didn't."

"Well, how about some yogurt, if you want something small?" Natsuki crinkled her nose, clearly not interested in that suggestion. "Okay, I could make some soup, if you would prefer that." Again, the suggestion was met with vehemence, a glare was enough of a retort. "You couldn't possibly want a hamburger, could you?" Now Shizuru was getting desperate, falling back on Natsuki's favorite meals. "Possibly take out a pizza or stir fry?" That was finally answered with a groan of annoyance. Shizuru was left with only one idea left. If Natsuki was refusing choice junk foods, it was time to pull out the ace Shizuru kept up her sleeve. "Mai's noodles?"

At that Natsuki perked up. "Noodles?" It was music to her ears. "Would she make them, you think?"

"If I went over there and explained how you've been out of commission all day, I'm sure she wouldn't hesitate." The truth was, Natsuki was rarely ever in such a state. "So, shall I go inquire if she would be so kind?" However, in the event that anyone happened to require her services, Mai was forever the mothering hen.

"Noodles sound good." Natsuki nodded.

…

"Wow, I never realized it was so hard on you, Natsuki." Takeda replied, as he sat across from her at the desk.

"Well, it got easier." Natsuki said then, looking down as Rin continued to gaze around the room, she closed her eyes often, trying to decide if she wanted to lull to sleep or not. "The first few months are the hardest. After about the middle of my second trimester, I didn't have the morning sickness quite so bad, but before that I was all jacked up." How many times did she catch herself raiding the fridge late at night? She couldn't recall. "I could eat in the morning just fine, and I could eat all through the night if I wanted...that never really bothered me...but that afternoon time...talk about indigestion. If I didn't eat an early breakfast and a late dinner, I would suffer for it." There were days, however, that it simply didn't matter. "Some days though, I woke up, and if I was feeling bad in the morning, I knew then the entire day was nearly a lost cause."

"I've got to hand it to you, though." Takeda could see that little one resting, snuggling into Natsuki's chest was worth all of it and more. "She is beautiful, well worth all of the suffering, I'm sure."

"Oh yeah." Natsuki nodded with a soft smile. "For sure, but there were times when my emotions were all over the place. It was times like that, when I'd just kinda wonder if it was normal, or if I was truly losing my mind." She packed up the rest of her food, finding herself quite full after merely her sandwich and a small part of her fruit cup. "I think I even made Shizuru a little annoyed sometimes." She packed away the salad and put it into the mini refrigerator behind her. "It was taxing on everyone. I was a total bitch sometimes. Kane managed to avoid most of it, because he never really got on my bad side."

"Speaking of that...you know, it still gets me interested. I've always thought about them, whenever you sent me letters." Takeda could only hope that Rin grew up to be the same way, though he knew he wouldn't have to worry that. "Considering it was you and Nao who raised them, it's kinda a surprise. I would have though they would have turned into little asses."

"Yeah, well, I never claimed to be gods gift to the world." In fact, Natsuki always claimed the opposite. "It kinda gets me too, actually. Though, Aki isn't exactly as well off as I would have liked." Natsuki shrugged, that really was water under the bridge. "She can be quite the ass, actually, if you let her."


End file.
